


The Children Are Alright

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Changelings, Dead!Lucifer, Depression, Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff and Angst, Hunters & Hunting, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Made For Each Other, Post Death Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 09:16:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8396038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Three years before: Sam killed Lucifer (different fic not by me, listed below)The guilt over Lucifer’s death eats Sam alive, but he forces himself to move on, what else does he have left? Three years pass and during a case in Utah, Sam discovers a small boy that he can feel is special, even if he doesn’t know why. Sam makes a decision Dean is not happy about, but it’s the only one that feels right for him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is both a sequel to the beautiful fic by heavnofhell AND a prequel to my newest Series.

_“He’s a part of you, Sam… he always was.”_

Sam still heard Cas’ words every night when he laid in the darkness, but he couldn’t believe them – not even a single time. He wanted nothing more than to believe, even if it was just made up. All he could think of, however, was that he had driven the blade through Lucifer himself, killing the angel with his bare hands. He would never forget how Lucifer had looked at him in this last moment of his life – thankful and loving. No one had ever looked at him this way and no one would _ever_ again. No matter what Cas said, Lucifer was dead and _nothing_ would change that.

Weeks went by, then months, and the agony Sam felt never really went away, never got better either. Sam just felt numb and destroyed, a zombie wandering earth with the ability to speak, nothing more. In front of Dean he managed to play normal, at least partially, but once the door to his room closed behind him everything came back – the guilt, the sorrow and the feeling of being a traitor to the only one that had ever accepted him the way he was. After all that had happened, Sam only now understood the truth behind it all – and now it was too late to change anything.

Hell, he had even asked Cas to send him back in time, like he had done so often with Dean – he had begged and pleaded and cried – but it was of no use. Even if he could, his friend had answered, Sam wouldn’t be able to stop himself. This had been his final breaking point and when Cas tried his best to calm the devastated hunter down somehow, Sam had realized that it was over. He had killed the only one who ever loved him and even in his dying moment, Lucifer had not stopped loving him.

Without the last bit of hope, Sam reduced himself to merely function. He barely felt anything anymore apart from his guilt and why should he? Everything felt pointless. What made it all worse was that Sam still felt their bond – a reminder of his own treason. Maybe this was his punishment for pushing Lucifer away so often, for driving the sword through his flesh and ending his existence.

Time went by as it always does and while they say it also mends wounds, in Sam’s case it didn’t. One year after Lucifer’s death, Sam had lost all his will to live, but still dragged himself further. After all, he had a job to do and he would do it, no matter what. His happiness and joy, however little was left of it, was gone though and he saw no way to get it back. For a total of three years Sam went on like this, a functioning hunter on the outside, a broken soul on the inside. He never thought things would change again.

The day Dean found a case of possible changelings in Utah was when Sam started to get this weird feeling. The closer they got to the town, the worse it got. Sam was sure he wasn’t getting sick, so he tried ignoring it and blaming it on something bad he ate, but for some reason it nagged on him more than it should have. Even Dean noticed something was up and confronted Sam before they talked to the local police. Of course Sam denied feeling bad, what else could he have said, but Dean did keep a close eyes on him after that.

It turned out a woman had recently died and her son, a three year old boy, was missing. They investigated and found the typical changeling marks on the woman’s neck, but they were all over the place, as if the changeling had problems finding the same spot again. Sam couldn’t believe a three year old was on the changeling’s list of possible victims, but then again there were not many children in this small town, so maybe they were just desperate. It would explain the random marks too.

There was no way to tell whether the son of the first victim was still alive or not – the only things they found were blood and scratch marks on the windows and an empty house – but Sam refused to give up looking for him. Dean was sure the boy was dead, while Sam insisted that even if he was, they would still have to find him so the police would stop investigating.

When they finally found and killed the mother changeling – thus also killing all her offsprings – they found the children in the basement of her house. Dean was quick to free all of them, but Sam had a strange feeling when he looked through the basement when he was done.

“Something wrong?” Dean asked from the door and Sam held up a hand, listening.

At first he heard nothing, but then it happened again, the same noise he had heard before – a quiet crying, suppressed to not make a sound. Slowly, Sam pushed a few boxes in the corner aside and there, cowering against the wall and covered in dust and dirt, sat a small child.

“Hey there,” Sam said carefully and knelt down.

The child stopped sobbing and for a moment didn’t dare to move, before very slowly turning his head and staring at Sam with huge and horrified blue eyes.

“It’s okay, dear,” Sam smiled warmly at the child. “We’ll take you back home, okay? The bad monster is gone.”

The child didn’t react, just kept staring at Sam and the hunter felt his stomach twist slightly. Something about this kid was different, but he couldn’t say what it was. When he reached out with his hand there was no flinching, not even blinking, and he managed to pick up the dirty kid, a small boy.

“Come, let’s get you out of here,” he said quietly and shifted the boy on his hip so he could carry him comfortably. The boy still looked at him with these big blue eyes and didn’t say a word.

“Another?” Dean asked when Sam came back to the door and his brother nodded.

“He hid behind some boxes, thank god I heard him,” Sam sighed. “Let’s get to the police and see if we can find his parents.”

“He looks pretty young,” Dean noted when they stepped out of the basement, but Sam only nodded.

He had noticed that too of course and he had a horrible feeling that there was no mother to reunite him with. Still, they had to make sure and hand the child over to the custodies. While Dean made sure the older kids found their way home, Sam walked up and down in front of the car with the boy.

“I know you’re scared, but it’s over now, big promise,” Sam smiled and ruffled through the boy’s hair. “I’m Sam, by the way, and you? Can you tell me your name?”

The boy didn’t answer at first, just stared at Sam the same way he did before, almost as if he was studying him. Then, as a quiet whisper that barely reached his ears, Sam heard one word.

“Luce.”

His own eyes grew wide at the name and the shy, almost cautious way it was spoken. It felt so familiar, so missed even, and Sam felt his heart ache at the sound of it, his lips curling into a sad smile.

“Luce… what a pretty name,” he whispered.

“Alright, all kids sent back home,” Dean interrupted his brother, who looked up confused. “What’s with him?”

“His name is Luce,” Sam swallowed heavily. “Right, Luce?”

Luce glared at Dean and for a moment Sam swore that he saw spite in those bright blue eyes, but when he turned his head and looked back at Sam, nodding slightly, they were just showing fascination again.

“Okay, Luce then, fine,” Dean shook his head, slightly annoyed. “Let’s take him to the police to find his parents.”

Sam nodded and carefully put Luce to the ground, who immediately grabbed for Sam’s hand in return. After debating to sit the boy into the backseats, Sam decided against it. The police station wasn’t far and he had no problem with Luce sitting on his lap until they were there. Luce immediately understood when Sam patted on his lap and crawled onto him to sit. Dean only rolled his eyes when Sam closed the door and put the seatbelt over them the best he could.

“You look ridiculous,” the older Winchester commented.

“Safety first, he’s a kid, Dean,” Sam shrugged and held Luce carefully when Dean drove off.

The boy didn’t say a word when they arrived and he hopped off Sam’s lap, but he did hold up his arms so Sam could pick him up again. He did so with a smile and when Luce pressed himself against his arm, Sam felt a slight sting in his chest. More than before now, Sam hoped that the dead woman was not his mother and that they would be able to bring him back home, into a loving family. Whatever he had witnessed, it must have been horrible…

“Agent Marcus, Agent Miller!” Sam turned around, facing the officer they had talked to in the morning.

“Officer Baxter, good. I think we found a little runaway,” Dean said almost cheerful.

“You found the Monroe boy? Thank god!” Officer Baxter eyed Luce suspiciously when Sam walked over to him, a sad look on his face. “Where did you find him?”

“He was hiding in a house nearby, in the basement,” Sam sighed. “Probably he was just scared and tried to hide.”

The officer nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“I’ll call the custodies, they will be here by morning to take him to an orphanage then.”

“Wait, an orphanage?” Sam was surprised and Luce seemed to understand what this meant too, because he pressed himself closer against Sam’s chest. “What about his father? Aunts, uncles?”

“Jessica Monroe just moved here a month ago,” the officer said and shook his head.

Sam felt a knot in his stomach. Jessica… another familiar name. This night would never end, he feared.

“She was a single mom with no family here, her husband died before the boy was born. She didn’t even have time to find a proper job yet.”

“No family to track in other states?” Dean threw in and the officer shook his head again.

“Not that we know of. We will look into this of course, but from what she told me she cut ties with her family a few years ago. She wanted to work for the police station, so I knew her a little from her visits. It’s really sad.”

“So, he will be put into a foster home?” Sam asked.

“Most likely, yes. It’s too bad she didn’t know many people here yet.”

“Thank you, Officer Baxter,” Sam suddenly said, loud enough to cut Dean off, who was just about to ask another question. “If you would give us the address of the orphanage he’s going to be sent to, we could bring him there tonight so he won’t have to spend it at the police station.”

Dean gave Sam a confused look, but the younger brother kept eye contact with the officer.

“That sounds like a good idea,” the man sighed. “Our cells are full and only Judy and I are here tonight – we both don’t feel comfortable with small children. Wait a minute, I will get you the address.”

The officer walked away, but Sam’s attention was already back to the boy in his arms.

“Don’t worry, we won’t bring you anywhere bad, I promise.”

“Sam, what the hell are you doing?” Dean hissed and walked over to him.

“They want to put him into foster care, Dean! What do you think I’m doing?”

“We won’t take him with us, are you nuts? Sam, we are _hunters_ , you don’t even _know_ this kid!”

“I don’t care what you say, I can’t leave him here alone! Look how scared he is!”

“Sam…” a quiet and sad voice interrupted the brothers arguing and Sam swallowed his anger down to look at Luce.

“I’m sorry, Luce. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Sam said smiling and brushed through Luce’s hair in a soothing manner. “It will be good, okay?”

“Stay with you,” Luce mumbled and pressed his face back against Sam’s chest, to which Sam gave Dean a victorious glare.

“You will, I promise.”

“Sam, we won’t –“

“Alright, here you go,” Officer Baxter’s voice came from behind Dean and he jerked up, pretending to have looked at Luce and nodded. “It shouldn’t be more than two hours given the time.”

“Thank you, Officer Baxter,” Sam smiled and took the paper with the address on it. “We will get him there safe. The poor kid had enough to go through.”

“Of course, of course. I expect you back tomorrow for the paper works.”

“We will be here,” Dean nodded.

Once the officer was gone, Sam wasted no time. He opened the door to the car and put Luce into the backseats, buckled him up and signed Dean to get into the car too. Dean did, but he was furious when Sam closed the doors.

“You’ll stop this nonsense now!” he said harsh and glared at his brother. “I’m not moving this car an inch!”

“If you won’t, I will,” Sam said serious. “This boy just lost his mother, he has no family and now they want to put him into foster care where he will probably suffer even more.”

“So? Since when do we play nanny for orphan children?”

“Since now,” Sam leaned over to Dean, so Luce wouldn’t hear his next words. “There’s something special about this boy, I can feel it. Dean, please, for once listen to me. I had this feeling something was wrong since we started this case, but it’s gone now. Since I found him.”

“Do you think he’s some kind of monster? One of the changelings?”

“No, he’s human,” Sam shook his head. “Please, it doesn’t have to be forever. Let me figure out what this is about, I will take care of him myself. He has no one else and he seems like a good kid.”

“Seriously, Sam… this is the dumbest thing you ever did,” Dean gritted his teeth and glanced at the boy in the backseats. Luce had his eyes closed and seemed to be drifting away into sleep, so he lowered his voice even more when he continued to speak. “Are you sure about this? That something is wrong with him?”

“Not wrong, no. But he’s special and I feel like I know him somehow,” Sam looked over to Luce too now, his expression softening slightly. “That’s no coincidence, Dean… I was supposed to find him.”

“You and your crazy ideas,” Dean huffed, but finally started the car.

Sam didn’t care what Dean thought or not. He knew Luce wasn’t an ordinary child and something told him the boy knew that too. It wouldn’t be easy, of course, but the way his boy had looked at him… it was like a memory Sam had almost forgotten. As if he had found someone he lost again.

When Dean pulled onto the highway and left the town behind – thus effectively kidnapping Luce – Sam watched Luce in the rear view mirror. The boy was asleep and somehow looked peaceful, despite all he had to go through during the last days. For an unknown reason, Sam smiled. It had been years since his last genuine smile and he thought he had lost his ability to smile at all. Now it was there and, even if he couldn’t say why, Sam knew he had made the right decision.


End file.
